Judgment

CHINNAPPA REDDY, J.:- The question raised in all these writ petitions is whether Sec. 30(ii) of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960 is constitutionally valid. This provision excepts from the application of the Act "any residential building or part thereof occupied by any one tenant if the monthly rent paid by him in respect of-that building or part exceeds four hundred rupees." The argument is that though, the Act is designed to apply generally to all residential and non-residential buildings, residential buildings or parts thereof fetching a rent of more than rupees four hundred are singled out and taken out of the purview of the Act, arbitrarily and without any reason. It is said that the classification of tenants of residential buildings fetching a rent of over rupees four hundred per month into distinct class for the purpose of depriving them of the benefits of the Act by excepting such buildings from the operation of the Act has no reasonable nexus to the three-fold object of the Act, namely, the regulation of the letting of residential as well as non-residential buildings, the control of rents of such buildings and the prevention of unreasonable eviction of tenants therefrom.

2. In the State of Tamil Nadu, it all started with two war-time measures, the Madras House Rent Control Order, 1941 and the Madras Godown Rent Control Order, 1942, both issued under the Defence of India Rules. These orders were re-issued with slight modifications in 1945 as the Madras Rent Control Order 1945 and the Madras Non-Residential Buildings Rent Control Order 1945. They were repealed and replaced by the Madras Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1946. This Act also was later repealed and replaced by the Madras Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1949. The present Act, the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960 was enacted in 1960 repealing and replacing- the 1949 Act. Up to the time of enactment of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1960, no exception was made from the purview of the Act in respect of any class of residential and non-residential buildings based on the rent fetched by the buildings. By Sec. 30(ii), for the first time, the 1960 Act excepted from the application of the Act residential buildings which fetched a rent of more than rupees two hundred and fifty per month and non-residential buildings which fetched a rent of more than rupees four hundred per month as entered in the property register or assessment book of the municipality. In 1961, this provision was amended by Act 20 of 1961 so as to make the exception applicable to either a building or part thereof and on the basis of the actual rent paid by the tenant and not on the basis of the, rental value as entered in the property register or assessment book of the municipality. In 1964, the provision relating to the exception made in the case of non-residential buildings fetching a rent of more than rupees four hundred per month was deleted, with the result that tenants of non-residential buildings were entitled to the protection afforded by the Act irrespective of the rent paid by them. Thereafter pursuant to the recommendation made by a Committee appointed by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1969, Sec. 30(ii) was further amended by Act 23 of 1973 by substituting, the figure rupees four hundred for the figure of rupee-, two hundred and fifty in that provision. It is the vires of this provision as it now stands., that is in question before us.

3. The long title of the Act is "An Act to amend and consolidate the law relating to the regulation of the letting of residential and non-residential buildings and the control of rents of such buildings and the prevention of unreasonable eviction of tenants therefrom in the State of Tamil Nadu." The Preamble to the Act similarly recites "Whereas it is expedient to amend and consolidate the law, relating to the regulation of the letting of residential and non-resid